How do I love thee? Let me count the ways. I love how every morning you’re hot and waiting for me. Your rich milky smoothness is the best way to start my day. You never judge me and always help me find the silver lining. I feel energized just by being near you.
Oh morning cup of coffee! How I adore thee!
Happy Valentine’s Day! What do you love most in this world?
2012 has been a fairly productive year for me.
Quite a bit of yardage! This breaks down to http://www.ravelry.com/projects/NessaMcTastic entered into Ravelry. I did more than just knit or crochet this year. Some of my other FOs include:
I also read 53 books out of my goal of 30! I’ve been quite busy and I’m really proud of my hard work.
2013 is going to be a better year with more finished objects, more yardage knit/crocheted and more books read. I hope everyone has a happy and healthy new year!
And all through the house, Vanessa’s sniffles could be heard disturbing the peace. Yes, once again, I’ve been gifted with my annual Christmas cold. Huzzah! Right now, I probably look just like Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer.
If, like me, you are planning on spending the next few days taking it easy, or if you’re working madly away at last minute preparations you’ll need some company. And what better way than to listen to some good (and free!) podcasts?
First, Heather Ordover over at CraftLit has lovingly provided three episodes of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. The reader she chose is wonderful and her explanations of the time and place in Dickens’ life makes the story stand out more as an important work rather than just a traditional if meaningless piece.
Secondly, the Electric Sheep podcast has up another funny Christmas pantomime. It’s a delightful and cheeky send up of the Cinderella story complete with a fairy god-sheep. The SGT and I had a good time listening to this and giggling.
Thirdly, Julie over at Forgotten Classics, offers up her reading O. Henry’s The Gift of the Magi. We all know the story (husband and wife give up their prized possessions to gift the other a present, realize what happened and learn the true meaning of Christmas) but really listening to O. Henry’s words make it less saccharine and more touching than what we can recall.
If your hands are busy cooking, cleaning or wrapping presents, put on a book to listen. It sure beats hearing the same commercials on the TV over and over again. So Merry Christmas, one and all!
I hope all my American readers had a nice Thanksgiving weekend! And that my non-American readers had a nice November weekend!
The SGT’s birthday always falls on Thanksgiving weekend and unfortunately, I didn’t finish his socks. Not even one sock. I have some commission work come in so he’ll be receiving those for Valentine’s Day, though it’s a holiday we tend to ignore. The universe sensed that I couldn’t come through on the sock front and so the local indie movie theater, The Belcourt, screened his favorite movie, Red Dawn, at midnight on his birthday.
And because our friends have similar taste and ideas we all went dressed up, ready to fight off Communist Russian/Cuban invaders:
Wolverines! Also, dog’s name is Cerberus
Unbelievably, our group (about five of us) were the only people who dressed up. Some folks have no sense of imagination.
I’m glad that I could make his 35th birthday as fun as possible. Go Wolverines!
Happy Thanksgiving, American readers!
A wee spot of translation: “Tu madre” is “Your mom” in Spanish.
Here is my list of things that I am thankful for, in no particular order:
Even if you’re not in the USA, I hope you have a great day full of good food and good things.
Next Thursday is Thanksgiving in the United States. The official count down to Christmas is six weeks. Most stores have put up the Christmas decorations and the holiday commercials* are starting. I’ve started to see some “Help!” posts around the internet about feeling the holiday crafting crunch.
Don’t end up like this guy! photo by divadea via Flickr
This year, I’m making some of my gifts but for the most part, I’m not feeling the crunch anymore. I’ve come up with a few tips and tricks that are helping me.
If you need help staying sane (especially if you also run a crafty business), check out Tara Swiger’s Holiday Sanity guide. I haven’t looked into it myself but I’ve heard a few different interviews with Tara about it and it sounds like it can help create a work/life balance.
(*I don’t have a “real” tv since I stream everything. This is just an assumption on my part.)
This year, Veteran’s Day falls on a Sunday. If you remember your history class (or if you don’t!) it was original called Armistice Day to mark the end of World War One. On the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of the 11th year (1911) peace treaties were signed and the Great War ended. The war changed a lot of things, introduction of the machine gun, airplanes were used in combat, and knitting was impacted!
Herbert Horacio Kitchener, the first Earl of Kitchener was an instrumental face and voice for the British war effort. His face adorned recruitment posters and he teamed up with the International Red Cross and urged Americans and Britons alike to send knitted “comforts” to the troops.
The comforts included socks but the “old” way of finishing socks was similar to a star toe. The remaining stitches were pulled tight with yarn and then the end woven in. When you’re marching for miles on end, this seam starts to irritate already worn out toes. It doesn’t take much for a hot spot to turn into an open sore and that sore to turn into an entry point for infection. So Kitchener (probably with some help) invented a new way to seamlessly graft knitted toes shut, and that method still bares his name: the Kitchener stitch.
But he’s not the only military man to have a knitting technique named after him!
FitzRoy Somerset, 1st Baron Raglan lost his right arm in the Battle of Waterloo (I couldn’t escape if I wanted to). To adapt to the loss of his limb, he wore sleeves that extend in one piece fully to the collar that leaves a seam from the collarbone to the underarm. You know it as a Raglan sleeve! He had his coats modified with this new style.
Lastly, there’s Jame Brudenell, the 7th Earl of Cardigan who commanded the Charge of the Light Brigade at the Battle of Balaclava during the Crimean War (history here, poem here).
He came home a hero and wore a knitted waistcoat–a sweater that opens in the front–during his campaigns and tours around England. Merchants started to capitalize on his fame and soon the cardigan became very fashionable. Oh, did I mention that Lord Cardigan and Lord Raglan were contemporaries? Kitchener was also involved in the Battle of the Balaclava.
And a bit of US history here, in honor of Election Day tomorrow, Calvin Coolidge was the last President to knit his own socks. Jimmy Carter was the first President elected who was born in a hospital.
There’s quite a bit of global history in knitting and knitting in history. For me, it’s a direct link to the past. Materials may have changed but the physical act of knitting and crocheting really hasn’t changed at all.
On Friday I mentioned that I consider my niece Olivia to be knit worthy. (I say knit worthy but if you don’t knit, replace it with whatever craft you do! The same principles apply.) The phrase can be found around the crafty interwebs, for example the Selfish Knitters and Crocheters group on Ravelry uses the phrase quite a bit. But what does it mean? What does being craft worthy mean for us the crafters and for the recipient? I asked this question on Twitter and I got a bunch of responses from people. I wrote them down and here’s what the general consensus looks like:
via Flickr, Lauren Manning
The ways to get kicked off the knitting list seem pretty crystal clear: no word of thanks, not using the item and not properly caring for it. Not only is not saying “thank you” in poor form, telling the crafter how awful the item looks is just uncalled for. It’s okay to set up boundaries, especially when it comes to something as personal as our craft. Not everyone we know really understands and appreciates our craft–and that’s okay! It’s also okay to not make for them. There are plenty of thoughtful gifts that are commercially available to give to them.
Another frustration people have expressed is not getting a fair offer from others. Non-crafters sometimes underestimate the time and money that goes into our products. If you feel like what you are offered is too low AND you are willing to take the job on, carefully explain why you need a better offer. Underpricing is something that I see all the time happening on Etsy stores. It’s not rude or egotistical to ask for a fair price! It’s doing right by you. If the person rejects your counter offer, don’t take it personally. It isn’t fair to your skills to agree to knit a lopi sweater in expensive yarn for only $10 if you really want to charge more. Yes, we craft and make because we need to, because we have that drive and desire. BUT! It doesn’t (always) mean we will do it for free, particularly if we’re trying to make a business out of our craft.
Good people of the world! Value your craft! Ask for a fair price or exchange of services! It’s okay to demand a sincere thank you from those we have blessed with our handmade gifts. And for those who undervalue our creativity, step off! For those about to craft, we salute you!
Take a break! Slow down. Relax.
Famous last words, eh? Well, they’re true. Even if it does seem to be easier said than done.
Most of the people I know, crafters and cancer patients alike, have a hard time not firing on all cylinders. There’s the creative need to do more, make more and do it all right now. And so we ignore our bodies when it tries to tell us to slow down. We drink copious amounts of coffee and when that doesn’t work we turn to processed stuff like Red Bull and Rock Star drinks. We stay up late to finish Christmas presents because things HAVE TO get done.
But we don’t look at the bigger picture of how that push can be damaging. Crafters (and cubicle drones) are prone to Repetitive Stress Syndrome. Athletes who do too much too soon can get a stress fracture. (Like me!) And when your body is worn out from chemo or radiation but your mind isn’t, it’s very easy to say “I can’t just lay down! I gotta wash the dishes! And do the laundry! And pretend to be Superman!” (Again, that was me!)
Western society, I think, pushes us to be the most productive we can be. Which is good, up to a point.
Monday I posted a short bit on panicking because Christmas is about 14 weeks away. I did feel myself start to panic and think about making all the things! for all the people I know! I did stop and think long and hard about just what I was doing to myself. My stomach was in knots because there’s so many things I actually need to do and only so many hours in the day. So I took a deep breath, stopped myself and wrote out a long term “To do” list.
I’m only going to craft some of the things! for only some of the people! And if it doesn’t get done by Christmas, that’s fine.
I’m urging you, beloved readers, to take a break. At some point in your day, take a pause, step away from what you’re doing for a moment and collect yourself. Look at what you’re doing and evaluate just what needs to be really done. Is there anything you can hand off to someone else? Does it really have to be done by a certain day?
Now closer your eyes and take another deep breath.
It’ll get done. And it’ll be amazing.
How do I know this?
Because you’re amazing. <3
ATTENTION CRAFTERS! There are 99 days until Christmas! Operation: Panic is a GO!
Yes, 99 days until Gift-mas. That’s 3.25 months or 14 weeks or 2376 hours or 142560 minutes.
The clock is ticking!
I don’t know about you, but I shall be spending my time crying in a corner. When I’m done, I’m going to revise my crafting list and then cry some more. Hopefully, between bouts of crying and running around the room flailing my arms I’ll get some work done.
Maybe.
